The Dawn of Starcraft: e-Sports come to the world stage

Ars's own Jeremy Reimer is addicted to StarCraft—not so much playing, but …

The lights of the metropolis shine brightly on the clear summer night. Down on the bay, a crowd gathers around a giant outdoor screen. Spotlights flood the area as the audience, now exceeding 50,000 people, work themselves into a fever pitch. The two teams come out on stage to deafening cheers. Teenage girls scream as one idol from each team is chosen for the first round of combat. They each enter a booth. The music swells, and the video game begins.

It sounds like a science fiction story from the future. But this event actually happened in the past, in a place where such things have been commonplace for over ten years. This was the 2006 Proleague finals held in Seoul, South Korea. The game being played was StarCraft.

The 2006 Proleague finals. Image courtesy Fighterforum.com

When people first learn about the professional gaming scene in Korea, they typically believe it to be a curious cultural anomaly, something that could never be repeated anywhere else. But there are those who have watched this scene while growing up, and as adults have made it their life's goal to bring it to the rest of the world. They are passionate about it in a way that is inspiring and infectious. They are on a mission. What follows is a look at that mission—where it has been, and where it's going—through the eyes of a longtime StarCraft e-Sports fan.

The StarCraft 1 scene

The year was 1999. A combination of government-sponsored inexpensive broadband, punitive tariffs on Japanese video game consoles (which at the time meant video game consoles in general), and the rise of "PC bangs" or gaming cafes where people played computer games, all combined at once to create something entirely new. Local tournaments at the PC bangs grew into larger and larger events, and when the Korean TV channel OnGameNet sponsored the first OSL championship, won by Canadian Guillaume "Grrrr..." Patry, there was no turning back. Patry became the first StarCraft superstar, appearing on talk shows and being mobbed by fans.

Patry's success inspired other foreigners to go to Korea to try their luck. Some, like Peter "Legionnaire" Neate and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier achieved some success in the early years, but when they retired there were few others with the patience and dedication to replace them. Korean StarCraft became exclusive to Koreans.

Non-Koreans players had only one tournament that mattered at all: the World Cyber Games. In the 2005 WCG USA championships, brothers Nick and Sean Plott were pitted against each other in the first round. Nick lost, but it was a blessing in disguise—while wandering the performance hall he became frustrated with the poor commentating and told the tournament manager that he could do better. He commentated the rest of the finals with an informed yet easygoing style—he was a natural in front of the camera. In the end, he was offered a job to come out to Singapore to commentate the world finals for WCG. Sean went on to beat Dan "Artosis" Stemkoski in a close game and win in the finals. For this he was awarded a trip to Singapore, where he nearly took a game off the 2004 champion from Korea, Xellos (Seo Ji Hoon). The USA finals were captured by filmmaker Brian J. Kim, and the world finals became the subject of a National Geographic documentary.

Following the finals, Nick went on to commentate other WCGs. His casts were popular enough that in 2008 the Korean Internet TV channel GOM TV asked him to come to Korea to do English commentary for a special tournament of the best Korean StarCraft players. The Star Invitational was a success, with over 75,000 views of the final match between Stork (Song Byung Goo) and upcoming phenomenon Flash (Lee Young Ho). It seemed like the rest of the world was finally going to start seeing why StarCraft was so popular in Korea.

KeSPA and Blizzard: the animosity begins

The success of the Star Invitational led to three seasons of the Averatec-Intel Classic, with Nick and co-commentators lilsusie (Susie Kim) and Super Daniel Man (Daniel Lee). However, KeSPA, the Korean e-Sports Association, put pressure on its players and teams to sit out Season 3, and when almost no players were allowed to participate, Season 4 was cancelled. Various reasons were given for this, but it was thought that KeSPA was not happy about the fact that Blizzard had been a major sponsor of the final season—the first time Blizzard had ever sponsored a StarCraft tournament in Korea—doubling the prize pool and making the tournament more attractive to players.

Why would KeSPA be against Blizzard sponsoring a tournament? Because at the time, KeSPA and Blizzard were in tough negotiations over the rights to broadcast StarCraft on television. For years Blizzard had paid little attention to the huge success that pro StarCraft had found in Korea, other than being happy that they sold lots of copies of the game there. In fact, it wasn't until 2005 that Blizzard finally released full support for the Korean language in the game!

What had happened was this: in 2007, KeSPA had started charging for the broadcast rights for StarCraft matches to TV stations OnGameNet and MBC. Blizzard argued that this money should go to Blizzard, and that Blizzard should have some control over how the tournaments were run. KeSPA refused to negotiate further, and things were at a standstill. This was a problem for Blizzard, as after a long delay, StarCraft 2 was about to be released.

StarCraft 2 prepares to take the stage

There was a 12-year delay between StarCraft 1 and StarCraft 2, and Blizzard had changed significantly in that time. There was much outcry when it was announced that StarCraft 2 would have no LAN play and would require a constant Internet connection to Battle.net at all times during multiplayer games. Blizzard claimed this was to cut down on cheating online (a common problem in StarCraft 1 was "maphacking," where people would run utilities to reveal the entire map while their opponents were still in the dark) and to allow players to follow each other's statistics, but many people saw it as a money grab, especially when paired with the fact that players living in different parts of the world were required to purchase multiple "regional" versions of the game in order to play with each other online.

Despite these concerns, anticipation for the release of StarCraft 2 ran high. When a multiplayer version of the beta was released, people immediately began playing online, and even started streaming their games live over the Internet using new services like UStream and JustinTV. There were even tournaments during the beta, like the "Stars Wars" contest held in China where players from the United States, including Nick Plott, beat the Korean team only to fall to the home country favorites.

As the game neared release, Blizzard had another big announcement. While still unable to reach an agreement with OGN or MBC, the two primary TV channels in Korea that sponsored and broadcasted StarCraft 1 tournaments, they finalized a partnership deal with GOM TV. It was a huge announcement: a global StarCraft 2 league called the GSL, with an unprecedented prize pool—tournaments would be held every month, and the champion would receive 100,000,000 Korean Won, or about $90,000 US, almost double the money that was awarded for StarCraft 1 championships. The tournaments would be broadcasted in Korean and English, with the latter commentated by Nick "Tasteless" Plott and Dan "Artosis" Stemkoski. While the tournaments would be held in Korea, everyone in the world was invited, and it was hoped that many non-Koreans would try out.

The GSL finals being casted by Dan and Nick. Image courtesy GOM TV

Blizzard was throwing down the gauntlet, effectively telling KeSPA that they intended to make StarCraft 2 a global e-Sport, with or without their help. KeSPA's response was to forbid any of their StarCraft 1 players from playing StarCraft 2 and launch a media blitz attacking the game and Blizzard itself. They even convinced the Korean government to threaten to give the game an "adults-only" rating for violence—ridiculous, as the level of violence was indistinguishable from its predecessor—forcing Blizzard to remove blood and burning flames from dead units in the Korean version.

Curiously, while most fans on English-language forums tended to be against Blizzard, people on the Korean forums were more likely to be critical of KeSPA. Still, the backlash had its impact—sales of StarCraft 2 in Korea were much lower than expected. Some people theorized that Blizzard was trying too hard to force the issue—the StarCraft 1 tournament scene had grown organically, through local tournaments organized by the PC bang owners. Blizzard wasn't helping the situation by charging PC bangs a monthly fee to play StarCraft 2, something that never existed for its predecessor.

The lawsuit between Blizzard and KeSPA could fill an entire article, and neither side is blameless in the matter. KeSPA continues to run StarCraft 1 tournaments as they have always done before, and GOM TV continues to have Blizzard's blessing to run StarCraft 2 tournaments in Korea, which are slowly growing in popularity. The lawsuit continues on interminably through the courts and seems headed towards arbitration.

I remember practicing for a small, local tournament back in the late 90s. (Unreal multiplayer, not SC)

The amount of scorn I got from my friends was unbelievable. I was genuinely surprised. I wound up winning (Hercules sound card, with breakout box! Woo!) which shut them up a little, but not completely.

I was really into Starcraft 2 for a few months (eventually fell out of it) but it was really fun watching the videos. I didn't realise just how exciting the games were until I saw some of them. The high-quality commentary by HDStarcraft and Husky that I saw really did a lot to cement my interest and my respect for Starcraft as an eSport.

A week ago I wouldn't have given this article a second thought. I don't play rts games any more and have had no contact with sc2... Now every day I am anxiously waiting for a new episode of "when cheese fails" and am having a blast watching players try out bizarre tactics on one another.

I would pay money to watch professional gamers if the announcing was great and the capture even better.

Just to clear up a few mistakes I noticed in this article, Kim Won Ki (TSL_FruitDealer) did not defeat Lee Jung Hoon (MarineKingPrime.WE) in the finals of GSL1, it was Kim Sung-Je (StarTale_RainbOw). MarineKing was the one who eliminated FruitDealer in the Ro32 in GSL2, causing a huge upset (while he was still using the ID BoxeR btw, not to be confused with Lim Yo Hwan (SlayerS_BoxeR).

Awesome writeup. It's super exciting to see this happen on the international scene. I played the original Starcraft back in the day, but I never thought I would enjoy watching someone play a video game until I got into the Beta for Starcraft 2 and started watching the commentated videos by HD, Husky, and Day9. Blizzard deserves props for making a game that works really well as a spectator sport, but you hit the nail on the head when you said that the real successes are arising organically.

Been watching this stuff since Brood War, it can definitely be a ton of fun, even for people who aren't competitive players at all (although as with all sports knowing more about it increases the appreciation of stuff that looks easy but is very hard to actually pull off). SC2 matches have definitely been getting a ton better as well as the game becomes better balanced and, most importantly, much much better understood by players. The complexity of tactics have increased significantly from the beginning. My only real complaints relate to GOM at the technical level, not the tournaments themselves. Despite buying a recent premium ticket, I've found the process of actually getting what I paid for to be very frustrating. Happily some people have just been saving and reuploading HD VODs elsewhere, but I'm becoming ever more irritated at companies that punish people for paying them money.

While I don't think much of the campaign of SC2, and I don't think the gameplay pushed things forward much compared to other RTS, it strikes an excellent balance of looks, depth and match speed that makes for a solid spectator experience. I look forward to seeing how esports of all types evolve down the road.

As a player of SC2 and follower of all the major events, i am really gald to see Ars doing this article, which as always is well written. In my opinion, with the exposure to gaming that all the kids are getting nowadays, e-sports will really take off in the next couple of years.

Just to clear up a few mistakes I noticed in this article, Kim Won Ki (TSL_FruitDealer) did not defeat Lee Jung Hoon (MarineKingPrime.WE) in the finals of GSL1, it was Kim Sung-Je (StarTale_RainbOw). MarineKing was the one who eliminated FruitDealer in the Ro32 in GSL2, causing a huge upset (while he was still using the ID BoxeR btw, not to be confused with Lim Yo Hwan (SlayerS_BoxeR).

Alright, playing Starcraft is NOT a sport. E or otherwise. Chess is not a sport. Billiards is not a sport. Fishing is not a sport. I'm not saying that Starcraft isn't challenging and entertaining and that tournaments aren't worth real money, but it simply isn't a sport.

I still play SC1 in the low-mid 300s despite playing only infrequently (my friends need a 3- or 4-to-1 advantage to want a swing at me). Gaming used to be one of those things you'd get crap about. Now, with most of us in our 30s, it's accepted that some of us were more dedicated to it in the past, and we're cool about trying to keep things fair (up to and including sitting games out to give everyone else pointers if there's a consensus we're too good).

There's a culture in NA to support it, but the last mile ISPs will be fighting it for sure.

Thanks for that article, it was pleasant to read and it’s nice to see esport gaining some attention especially on a serious site like Ars.

Like other posters before me, I’m no fan of sc2 as a player. Even though I have played through the campaign, I’m definitely not a pvp oriented player and have never played in the sc2 leagues. However I’ve found myself watching and enjoying well commented sc2 top level games.

This was especially surprising for me as I dislike watching actual sport events (football, basketball, tennis….) and yet, somehow, could stay glued to a tense and disputed sc2 game.

The SC2 scene is going truly global now. In Sweden on April 12 Eight world class StarCraft II-players will attend DreamHack Stockholm Invitational. DreamHack host a one-day tournament at Kulturhuset in central Stockholm in front of live audience, with professional commentators and broadcasted online. Jinro, MC, IdrA, HuK, MorroW, White-Ra, TLO, SlayerSBoxer make this the next step in esports. This is Boxers first ever tournament in Europe making this a historic event.

Alright, playing Starcraft is NOT a sport. E or otherwise. Chess is not a sport. Billiards is not a sport. Fishing is not a sport. I'm not saying that Starcraft isn't challenging and entertaining and that tournaments aren't worth real money, but it simply isn't a sport.

Billiards isn't a sport, but archery is? What about Formula 1 racing, or motocross? Is Sumo wrestling a sport?

What "skill" is required in a triathlon? Knowing how to run, ride a bicycle, and swim? Are triathletes not taking part in a sport because the skill component is de-emphasized in their particular activity?

You're arbitrarily constraining the definition of "sport" because you believe physical endurance and strength are somehow more laudable than physical precision and mental ability.

One thing that's interesting about StarCraft (and competitive RTS's in general) is that they're generally more watchable than most other kinds of competitive gaming.

What makes RTS's unique is that you can generally see the skill in play. Not all of it, of course; casters rarely show people macroing unless they're making a point. But you don't really have to understand the nuances of resourcing, macro, etc to know that when someone loses an expansion, that's a bad thing. The lay person is able to get something out of it. Sure, someone who really knows their StarCraft will get more out of it. But the lay person is able to get something out of the experience.

Competitive deathmatch FPS's don't look like anything. It's just people dying. A lot. Unless you really know about map structure, weapon spawn rates, etc, you can't really understand what's going on or why someone is winning. Fighting games are better in general, but sometimes people win for reasons that aren't clear to the lay person.

When the lay person sees some Banelings get into your base and half your mineral line disappears, they see that something bad just happened. When you make that epic transition into losing your whole f'ing base, it's generally clear why that happened.

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What "skill" is required in a triathlon? Knowing how to run, ride a bicycle, and swim? Are triathletes not taking part in a sport because the skill component is de-emphasized in their particular activity?

In what way is it de-emphasized? Running very much is a skill; that's why some people run better than others. Bicycling and swimming are skills.

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You're arbitrarily constraining the definition of "sport" because you believe physical endurance and strength are somehow more laudable than physical precision and mental ability.

But he didn't say that. He didn't put any kinds of value judgment on what is or is not a sport or whether being a sport is more legitimate than not being a sport. He's just using a specific definition, one that is commonly accepted. You're the one who's saying that calling something not a sport is denigrating.

Personally, I don't see the need to call it a sport; that's mostly marketing to legitimize it away from "mere games". I'm fine with "competitive gaming," because that's what it is.

Billiards isn't a sport, but archery is? What about Formula 1 racing, or motocross? Is Sumo wrestling a sport?

What "skill" is required in a triathlon? Knowing how to run, ride a bicycle, and swim? Are triathletes not taking part in a sport because the skill component is de-emphasized in their particular activity?

You're arbitrarily constraining the definition of "sport" because you believe physical endurance and strength are somehow more laudable than physical precision and mental ability.

That's a lowbrow position if I've ever seen one.

I never once said or even implied what you wrote. I gave a narrow (though hardly arbitrary) definition of sport and gave a few examples of what doesn't comply. I don't know why you're being defensive, or why you're inferring that I believe physical attributes are better than mental attributes and precision. I love mental games and challenge and have nothing against activities that are precise, they're just not sports.

I never said archery was a sport. Most motorsports require a fair bit of endurance (athleticism) so they probably qualify. Drag racing and monster truck racing aren't sports. If sumo wrestling weren't rigged it might be a sport. Running, swimming and bike riding at elite levels are definitely skillful things and are very much sports. How much skill does it take to play Starcraft? NONE. How much skill does it take to play Starcraft well? LOTS. Still, still Starcraft is not a sport. That doesn't denigrate it.

In what way is it de-emphasized? Running very much is a skill; that's why some people run better than others. Bicycling and swimming are skills.

Running is not a skill, the ability to run a marathon is based on physical endurance training, not amazing prowess in lifting your legs in the correct manner. Some people run better than others because they train harder. Their bodies are stronger and faster and can perform better. That's not a skill, it is not learned.

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But he didn't say that. He didn't put any kinds of value judgment on what is or is not a sport or whether being a sport is more legitimate than not being a sport. He's just using a specific definition, one that is commonly accepted. You're the one who's saying that calling something not a sport is denigrating.

That's not a commonly accepted definition. It's a very narrow, arbitrary definition that's not supported by facts or internally consistent. The fact is that chess is recognized as a sport by the International Olympic Committee. The fact is that motorsports are considered sports even though they are basically competitions of vehicle control. The fact is that curling is an olympic sport, as is archery, as is olympic shooting, as is one half of every biathlon.

If you want to claim esports doesn't count as a sport, then you have to claim that motorsports aren't sport either, and that's a minority opinion.

Also, he did put a value judgement on what is or is not a sport. The very act of refusing to call esports "sport" is a value judgement. By refusing to use the same word to refer to all competitions of skill and/or strength and/or endurance, he's elevating one above the other.

The only assumption I'm making is that he values physical sports more, and that assumption is based on the fact that anyone who considers all competitions to be equal would never be motivated to complain about the terminology.

Right. Chess is a sport. Mathletes are actually athletes. And competitive Scrabble is the holy grail of Sport.

unigolyn wrote:

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Also, he did put a value judgement on what is or is not a sport. The very act of refusing to call esports "sport" is a value judgement. By refusing to use the same word to refer to all competitions of skill and/or strength and/or endurance, he's elevating one above the other.

Stop being deliberately obtuse because you feel slighted about a judgement that I surely didn't make. I don't mislabel things all the time that doesn't mean I passed judgement on them. And your infallible Olympic Committe could decided to make StarCraft 2 the center attraction of the 2012 Games, it still wouldn't be a Sport.

Running is not a skill, the ability to run a marathon is based on physical endurance training, not amazing prowess in lifting your legs in the correct manner.

Um, yes it is. Part of running a marathon is knowing how to run the most efficiently. Part of running sprints is knowing how to run as fast as you possibly can without falling on your ass. These are skills. There are running techniques involved. Track sports are skilled activities, whether you recognize them or not.

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Yes, because that's what the word means.

Then why do we have the world "sport" anyway? If "sport" is a perfect synonym for "competition," why do we need a word when we already have one?

If you ask someone whether Chess is a sport, they will say no, regardless of what the IOC calls it. If you ask someone to define the word "sport", some form of athleticism will be involved in that definition. That's how the word is used, and that is generally what separates sports from other games.

That is, sports are a subset of games. A particular subset of games.

When Chess is considered a "sport," the word has no meaning. It would then be a list of things we call sports, which is separated from the larger group "games" simply based on whether we have historically called it a "game" or a "sport".

I don’t want this to sidetrack the discussion but here is another definition of what a sport is:

« A physical activity with non utilitarian goals obeying certain rules and often including a part of competition »

So while the physical part seems mandatory, the competition part is not as illustrated by a number of sports who, for decades or more, where not practiced competitively: Rock climbing, mountain climbing, kayak, sailing….

I never said archery was a sport. Most motorsports require a fair bit of endurance (athleticism) so they probably qualify. Drag racing and monster truck racing aren't sports. If sumo wrestling weren't rigged it might be a sport. Running, swimming and bike riding at elite levels are definitely skillful things and are very much sports. How much skill does it take to play Starcraft? NONE. How much skill does it take to play Starcraft well? LOTS. Still, still Starcraft is not a sport. That doesn't denigrate it.

So you think motorsports qualify but drag racing doesn't? If you add ANY motorsport then all the rest apply as well.

Athleticism doesn't mean physically fit. Most face car drivers are not athletic, but it;s still a sport.

How about curling? It's a sport, but requires virtually no athleticism.

I think you are trying to pigeon hole sports as being ones with some quintessential athlete when it's really not what sport means.

I would love to see you or any normal person be able to pull off 300+ actions per minute like the pros do in SC2 and then say it doesn't require training and dexterity. I would argue the same dexterity and specialized skills are required as many of the other traditional sports in the Olympics.

I don't care whether or not it's a sport either, it seems like a pretty pointless exercise to back and forth over dictionary definitions. I am interested in why people do care though. Is it always a legitimate pastime to like "sports" (any "sports"), whereas liking "games" can be frowned upon? Is there some inbuilt nobility with sports that you don't get with games or something?

I reject the idea that "sport" needs to be physical in any way. The true nature of a sport is in the competition and while having two words for the same thing is pretty much OK (they are called synonyms you know) I would argue that "sport" involves something that is above the game - a constant desire to improve, discipline, an attitude of respect to your opponent (who is not your enemy) and team spirit. A sport teaches you how to be a winnner but even more important is that it teaches you how to lose without being a loser. While I have nothing against physical activities (in fact most competitive gamers are fitter than the average person) I believe that the above mentioned characteristics are much more important than any physical activity that a sport might incorporate and thus deserve their own word - "sport".

Any particular reason why MLG wasn't mentioned here? First event of the season starts tonight, and there is a growing feeling in the community that SC2 will outstrip Halo this year (which would have been unthinkable even a couple years ago).